Dylan Orpen

Effect of micro-channel geometry on fluid flow and mixing

Understanding the flow fields at the micro-scale is key to developing methods of successfully mixing fluids for micro-scale applications. This paper investigates flow characteristics and mixing efficiency of three different geometries in micro-channels. The geometries of these channels were rectangular with a dimension of; 300 lm wide, 100 lm deep and 50 mm long. In first channel there was no obstacle and in the second channel there were rectangular blocks of dimension 300 lm long and 150 lmwide are placed in the flow fields with every 300 lm distance attaching along the channel wall. In the third geometry, there were 100 lm wide fins with 150_ angle which were placed at a distance of 500 lm apart from each other attached with the wall along the 50 mm channel. Fluent software of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate the flow characteristics within these microfluidic model for three different geometries. A species 2D model was created for three geometries and simulations were run in order to investigate the mixing behavior of two different fluid with viscosity of water (1 mPa s). Models were only built to investigate the effect of geometry, therefore only one fluid with similar viscosity was used in these models. Velocity vector plots were used in the CFD analysis to visualise the fluid flow path. Mass fractions of fluid were used to analyse the mixing efficiency. Two different colours for water were used to simulate the effect of two different fluids. The results showed that the mixing behaviour strongly depended on the channel geometry when other parameters such as fluid inlet velocity, viscosity and pressure of fluids were kept constant. In two geometries lateral pressure and swirling vortexes were developed which provided better mixing results. Creation of swirling vortexes increased diffusion gradients which enhanced diffusive mixing.

Remote Real-Time Monitoring of Subsurface Landfill Gas Migration

The cost of monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites is of major concern for regulatory authorities. The current monitoring procedure is recognised as labour intensive, requiring agency inspectors to physically travel to perimeter borehole wells in rough terrain and manually measure gas concentration levels with expensive hand-held instrumentation. In this article we present a cost-effective and efficient system for remotely monitoring landfill subsurface migration of methane and carbon dioxide concentration levels. Based purely on an autonomous sensing architecture, the proposed sensing platform was capable of performing complex analytical measurements in situ and successfully communicating the data remotely to a cloud database. A web tool was developed to present the sensed data to relevant stakeholders. We report our experiences in deploying such an approach in the field over a period of approximately 16 months.

Web-based monitoring of year-length deployments of autonomous gas sensing platforms on landfill sites

This paper describes multiple field deployments of autonomous gas monitoring platforms spanning durations in excess of 12 months. These trials form part of an on-going collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in monitoring landfill migration of greenhouse gases, i.e. methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Target gas concentrations were automatically recorded via infrared (IR) gas sensors calibrated for the respective gases, with this data being logged remotely every six hours to a central base-station. The autonomous platform with its web-based portal interface provides a flexible alternative to the existing labor-intensive, manual monitoring routines. The duration of the data herein represents one of the longest continuous field deployments of an environmental monitoring device. The real-time monitoring of the gas levels achieved by the bespoke platforms has proven to contribute significantly towards the improved management of landfill sites.

An Overview of Microfluidic Mixing Application

Microfluidics is a technology where application span the biomedical field and beyond. Single cell analysis, tissue engineering, capillary electrophoresis, cancer detection, and immunoassays are just some of the applications within the medical field where microfluidics have excelled. The development of microfluidic technology has lead to novel research into fuel cells, ink jet printing, microreactors and electronic component cooling areas as diverse as food, pharmaceutics, cosmetics, medicine and biotechnology have benefited from these developments. Since laminar flow is prevailing at most flow regimes in the micro-scale, thorough mixing is a challenge within microfluidics. Therefore, understanding the flow fields on the micro-scale is key to the development of methods for successfully microfluidic mixing applications.

On-Body Chemo/Bio-Sensing - Opportunities and Challenges

In recent years, there has been significant progress in a number of sensing technologies related to on-body measurements, such as platforms for monitoring respiration, heart rate, location and movement. In these cases, the sensing element (s) are based on highly effective transducers that are increasingly integrated into garments such that they are becoming innocuous to the user. In contrast, the area of on-body chemical sensing remains highly under-developed. In this paper, we will address the significant challenges that are inhibiting the practical realisation of reliable chemical sensors and biosensors capable of generating accurate data in real time.